{
  "id": 19509217,
  "title": "Why Vodacom’s fastest-growing markets are outside South Africa",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/11/why-vodacoms-fastest-growing-markets-are-outside-south-africa",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-11-11T14:37:32.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "TechCabal",
    "slug": "techcabal",
    "url": "https://techcabal.com/2026/11/11/vodacom-safaricom-growth/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Vodacom, an African technology firm, is witnessing expansion beyond its South African base, with Egypt, Kenya and other overseas markets outpacing its more established home market. The acquisition of Safaricom, the largest telco in East Africa, adds Safaricom's M-Pesa mobile money platform and extensive financial services to Vodacom's portfolio, signaling a shift away from traditional mobile services. For the six months leading up to September 30, 2026, Vodacom reported a revenue of R102.5 billion ($6.2 billion), marking a 25.6% increase from the previous year, propelled in part by Safaricom's integration. These results highlight the limitations of growth in South Africa—a market that is maturing and harder to expand—and the rapid growth in emerging markets where mobile connectivity and financial services are creating new revenue avenues. Vodacom's international operations recorded a normalized service revenue growth of 13.7%, with Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA) rising by 15.9%. Internally, Vodacom revitalized its prepaid business by returning it to growth, driven by increased data usage, and enhanced its EBITDA margin to 37.4%, the highest level in several years. Chief Executive Officer Shameel Joosub noted that the company achieved one of its strongest six-month performances, surpassing growth targets in service revenue, EBITDA, and operating free cash flow. It also reached a milestone by serving a quarter of a billion customers across Africa. The Safaricom acquisition is pivotal in Vodacom's strategy to broaden its focus beyond basic mobile connectivity and speed up its financial services sector. The transaction increased Vodacom's stake in Safaricom to 55%, making Safaricom a subsidiary rather than a standalone company since June 30. This move enhances Vodacom's access to Kenya's mobile money ecosystem and one of Africa's most established fintech platforms. Together, Vodacom and Safaricom generated R43.1 billion ($2.6 billion) in pro-forma financial services revenue over the past year, serving 108 million financial services customers who executed over $575.5 billion in transactions during the same period. Financial services revenue grew by 99% to R15.9 billion ($966 million) in the interim half-year, with pro-forma growth at 19.2%, reflecting Safaricom's inclusion in the comparative period. Joosub emphasized that M-Pesa is crucial to Vodacom's vision of building a business that earns revenue from more than just calls, data, and connectivity. The acquisition of Safaricom creates one of Africa's largest FinTech platforms, enabling broader access to formal financial services and fostering economic participation for millions of individuals and businesses. Financial services, fixed connectivity, digital services, and Internet of Things (IoT) services now constitute 27.4% of Vodacom's service revenue. After the Safaricom acquisition, Vodacom raised its 2030 target for these businesses from 30% to over 32%, underscoring the importance of diversification in its growth strategy. Shareholders benefited from the interim performance, with Vodacom declaring an interim dividend of 355 cents per share, up 7.6%, and headline earnings per share increasing by 25.7% to 587 cents. Vodacom also invested R13.3 billion ($806 million) in capital expenditure during the half, a 41% increase, to expand network capacity and infrastructure to support growing data consumption and digital services. Joosub stated that Vodacom is on track to surpass its medium-term growth targets as it works towards its Vision 2030 objectives.",
  "summary": "Vodacom is looking beyond South Africa for growth, with its controlling stake in Safaricom strengthening its position in mobile money and digital financial services across Africa.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}